


A Spice of Life

by ScorpioGirl1987



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Crime, Drama, F/M, Family, Friendship, Humor, not everything is as it seems
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24338605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScorpioGirl1987/pseuds/ScorpioGirl1987
Summary: Poe introduces his friends to his father, and then musters up the courage to tell him he was part of a spice smuggling ring. Then later, both his mentee, Kaz and his worst enemy, Terex find out as well. The truth will set you free, but also cause complications. Slight Damerey and post TROS.
Relationships: Kes Dameron & Poe Dameron, Poe Dameron & Kazuda Xiono, Poe Dameron & Terex, Poe Dameron/Rey
Kudos: 6





	A Spice of Life

"I can't wait to see Yavin 4."

Poe, Rey, and Finn sat in the common area of the Falcon, which was in hyperspace. Kes wanted to meet Poe's friends, and Rey and Finn were the only ones not doing anything at the moment.

Poe smiled and nodded. "Well, Rey, if you like Ajan Kloss, you'll definitely love Yavin 4. Green everywhere and rains almost every day."

"I will, then! I decided that green is my favorite color." Poe and Finn just stared at her. "Hey, you try living on a desert planet with no rain, no foliage, and hardly any food and water for thirteen years and see how you do. I can't even remember how I managed to survive."

"Yavin 4 definitely makes up for that." Poe replied.

"Doesn't it also have a colony?" Finn asked.

"Yep. Wetyin Colony." Poe replied. "Hate the name, and I really wish they'd change it."

"Do you have anything positive to say about your home planet?" Rey asked, a little irritated.

"Yes, actually: the koyo melons are to die for, and the jungle and the old Rebellion base are great places to set booby traps and pull pranks." Poe said, grinning.

"Well, I did ask..." Rey muttered.

"There is a slightly entertaining part of town." Poe shrugged. "Some shady stuff goes down."

"Is that how you got into spice running?" Finn asked.

Poe scoffed. "No. Did I not tell you how I got caught up in that?"

"No, you didn't." Rey replied, sitting up straighter.

"Well, I ran away from home in my mom's A-wing, but I had run out of food and money, so I had to sell the A-wing." Poe swallowed back tears at the memory and cleared his throat. "I immediately regretted it, so I had to find a job to buy it back. Some guy hired me to be his cargo pilot. Little did I know, the 'cargo' was ten crates of spice. I freaked out and I tried to leave, but they manipulated me back into it."

"Oh, I was gonna say..." Finn laughed softly.

"You ran away from home?" Rey asked, appalled.

"Oh, boy." Finn muttered in dread.

"You r _an away_ from _home_?!" Rey demanded.

"Rey..." Poe held up his hands to calm her.

"Do you know how lucky you are to _have_ a home?" Rey continued.

"Rey, you don't understand." Poe said calmly. "My father and I were not getting along. He was emotionally distant and overprotective-"

"An emotionally distant and overprotective parent is better than no parent at all!" Rey exclaimed.

"I know." Poe replied. "I was sixteen years old and naive. I wanted to join the New Republic Navy, but my dad didn't want me to."

"Why? It's for a good cause!" Finn exclaimed.

"My mother was shot down by Imperial remnants." Poe explained sadly. "He didn't want to lose me like he lost my mom."

"In the A-wing?" Rey asked.

"No, a different ship." Poe replied.

"Oh, Poe, I'm so sorry." Rey said sympathetically.

"It's okay. It was hard on both me and my father." Poe nodded. "He was so happy and laughed with us a lot. We got along great before my mom died, then he changed. He became so emotionally distant and overprotective...we argued. A lot. Mostly about me wanting to become a pilot like my mother."

Rey nodded. "I see. Well, at least he cares about you, or he wouldn't want to meet your friends."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Poe nodded.

"What happened once you returned home?" Finn asked.

"Well, I thought he'd be furious with me for running away from home." Poe shrugged and folded his arms on the djarik table. "But, when he saw me, he ran to me with tears in his eyes and hugged me for a long time. He hadn't hugged me since he told me Mom died. He blames himself for me running away. After that, we went to family counseling for a year, then with his blessing, I finally went to the New Republic Naval Academy. Our relationship improved greatly. He's still a little emotionally distant, but not as much as he was before."

"That's a wonderful story." Rey smiled, with her hand on her chin and her elbow on the djarik table.

"Why, thank you, Rey." Poe replied.

"What'd he say about you being an accidental spice runner?" Finn asked.

"He doesn't know about that, actually." Poe admitted. "He knows I ran away, obviously, and that I sold the A-wing, but not about accidentally joining a spice ring."

"Why? You didn't join on purpose. You were tricked." Rey said.

"He already blames himself for me running away, imagine his reaction to me accidentally becoming a spice runner." Poe explained.

"What did you tell him?" Finn asked.

"That I traveled around the galaxy, working odd jobs to make ends meet," Poe replied. "which wasn't too far from the truth."

Finn nodded. He then realized something. "Um...this is kind of random, but does he know you were shot out of space and crash-landed on Jakku?"

"He knows I crashed, but I didn't tell him how." Poe admitted. "I just told him my mission went south and I needed a ride off Jakku. I didn't want to give him more anxiety and I didn't want him to worry more." He sighed quietly. "I can't even imagine what he went through when he learned Palpatine was still alive and he couldn't contact me."

Rey nodded. "Do you think he'd also be angry or disappointed that you were a spice runner?"

"Probably." Poe nodded. "So...I'd really appreciate it if you both kept quiet about it."

"So you want us to lie." Finn guessed.

"To protect his feelings and to make him feel better." Poe replied.

"But, Poe, you were tricked. I'm sure he will understand." Rey assured him. "And think of all the great things you've done since then. You saved the galaxy several times over. You've changed lives for the better. Doesn't that kind of cancel it out?"

"Not really." Poe replied. "That still doesn't change the fact that it happened."

"Still, I think you'd feel a lot better telling him the truth." Rey replied.

"I agree." Finn said.

"Guys, I appreciate your thoughts, but this is my decision." Poe said firmly. "Now, can I count on you to keep quiet?"

Finn exhaled sharply. "I guess. Yeah." Rey nodded in agreement.

"Great. Thank you." Poe stood up. "I need to use the refresher."

Rey and Finn sat in silence and thought. Poe left the small refresher and headed towards the cockpit without looking at his friends.

"Poe, wait." Rey stood up and walked over to him. "I thought about what you said, and you're right. It's your decision, and I will support you no matter what."

Poe smiled gratefully. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

"You're welcome." Rey replied. They hugged.

Poe exhaled sharply. "I'll be in the cockpit if you guys need me."

"Okay." Rey replied. She sat back down.

"That was a quick turnaround." Finn commented. "So you completely support Poe lying to his father? How long do you think you two can keep that up?"

"Hey, he's our friend, Finn. We need to support him no matter what." Rey said. She looked back towards the cockpit to make sure Poe wasn't coming, then turned back to Finn. "Besides...I just had a vision."

"Another one? Of what?" Finn asked, intrigued.

"Of Poe's dad knowing the truth." Rey replied, her eyes sparkling. "He'll find out with a little help from us."

Finn was surprised. "We're gonna tell him?"

"No, we're not." Rey explained. "Just...play along."

Finn nodded. "Okay."

XX

A few hours later, they finally dropped out of lightspeed. Rey sat up and grinned with excitement as she steered the Falcon around the big gas giant to a smaller, green moon. Poe got them cleared for landing, and Rey looked around in awe as they soared towards the Dameron farm.

Once Rey stepped down from the access ramp, she breathed in the scents of the jungle and the nearby koyo orchard. "I think I'm gonna like it here."

"Okay, I'm gonna ask if you like it once you've stayed here a week." Poe said as he lead his friends towards his house.

Rey scoffed. "Thanks for the warning."

Finn studied Poe's house in amazement. "Wow, I like your house!"

"Thanks. My dad designed and built the whole thing." Poe replied.

"He did a marvelous job." Rey commented.

"Tell him that. He's very proud of it." Poe replied. They stopped about two yards in front of the house. "Okay, give me a few minutes with my dad, then come join us."

"Okay." Rey nodded. Poe turned and walked to the door and Rey looked down at her outfit, checking for stains and dust. She smoothed her scarf and turned to Finn. "Hey, how do I look?"

"Same as always." Finn replied. "Why?"

Rey ignored the question. "I don't have anything in my teeth or anything on my face?"

"No, you look fine. Why are you so nervous?" Finn asked.

"I'm not! Just...calm down." Rey said. They turned towards Poe, who waved them over. Rey almost tripped and blushed furiously. Finn steadied her and chuckled to himself. "Oh, shut up."

They walked up to the Damerons, smiling.

"Dad, this is Rey and Finn, guys, this is my dad, Kes Dameron." Poe introduced.

"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Dameron." Finn said, shaking his hand.

"You, too. And please, call me Kes." Kes replied. "I also want to thank you two for saving my son's life."

"Of course." Finn and Rey replied at the same time.

Rey shook Kes' hand next. "Nice to meet you, too. I love your son- I-I mean your house! I mean, I love your son, too, but as a friend, of course."

Poe raised an eyebrow at Finn quizzically, and Finn just smiled and shrugged. He has never seen Rey act so nervous before.

"Well, thank you, Rey." Kes replied. He gestured to the living room. "Let's go in here."

The living room was just large enough for a couch, two chairs, a caf table, a holoprojector, a desk, a fireplace, a viewscreen, and a shelf. Finn, Poe, and Rey sat on the couch and Kes sat across from them. Various fruits and meats were spread on the caf table.

"Ooh, this looks good." Poe said.

"Help yourselves." Kes said happily.

Poe watched eagerly as his friends tried a koyo melon for the first time. Rey smiled as she ate the melon. "Mmm." Poe turned to Finn, who was trying and failing to hide his disgust. Poe sighed quietly, grabbed a napkin, laid it flat in his palm, and raised it to Finn's chin. "Spit." Finn complied and put his half-eaten melon piece in the napkin. Poe folded over the food and threw it in the wastebasket.

"Finn, you are crazy. This is so good!" Rey exclaimed.

"More for us, then." Poe replied. He turned to Kes. "So, the farm looks great."

"Thanks. This moon has thrived despite the threat of First Order occupation." Kes nodded. "Wetyin has grown to become a small town than a village. We changed the name, too."

Poe sat up eagerly. "Really?"

"Yep. We're calling it Wetyin instead of Wetyin Colony." Kes announced, smiling. Poe slumped in his seat and groaned in disappointment. Rey, Finn, and Kes all laughed at Poe's reaction. Kes sobered up and sighed. "So, what about you, kid? How did you manage to find that Sith planet in such a short amount of time?"

Poe took a deep breath. "Well...we received a message from a spy in the First Order that Palpatine was alive and hiding out on a Sith planet called Exegol, which could only be found by a compass called a wayfinder. Luke Skywalker went searching for it, and his trail ended on Pasaana. We picked up his trail and found a clue that lead to the wayfinder, but it was written in Sith. C-3PO was with us, but he couldn't translate it because of his programming. Then the Knights of Ren found us and captured Chewie. We escaped on another ship and hid in a smuggler's hideout to regroup."

"Well, that was lucky that you knew about the smuggler's hideout." Kes said. "How did you know of it, by the way?"

Poe froze. "Uh..."

"General Calrissian told us." Rey spoke up. "He's also the one who told us about the clue that would lead to a wayfinder."

"Oh." Kes nodded. "So, what'd you do next?"

"Well, the only clue we had was in Threepio's memory banks, so we headed to a black market droidsmith on Kijimi to see if we could bypass it." Poe replied.

"How did you know this black market droidsmith?" Kes asked.

Poe hesitated. "Um...Rey knew him. Well, knew of him."

Rey shot him a look, then turned to Kes. "Uh, yeah. I was a scavenger on Jakku and people from all over the galaxy went there for parts or repairs. I made a friend, Zorii Bliss. She would tell me about her home planet of Kijimi, which was the complete opposite of Jakku- cold and dark- and she would talk about her friend Babu Frik, the droidsmith."

"Well, that was lucky." Kes replied.

"It was." Poe replied. He pushed away his guilt for lying. "Anyway, we found Exegol, destroyed the Sith fleet, and Palpatine died for real this time."

"I'm glad and I'm glad you three are safe." Kes replied.

"Thanks. Us, too." Poe replied. "So, what happened here? How'd the First Order occupation end?"

"The star destroyer over this moon just exploded and debris rained down mostly in the jungle." Kes replied. "Some landed on a few farms and in the middle of the village, but no one was hurt and there wasn't much damage."

"Good, I'm glad." Poe nodded. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the guilt creeping through his body.

"Poe was also promoted to General." Finn announced.

"Really?" Kes asked in amazement.

"Yeah. I wish it were under better circumstances, but..." Poe shrugged.

"Still. I'm so proud of you." Kes said sincerely.

"Thanks, Dad." Poe replied, touched.

"You know, it takes a strong, wise, and honest man to rise through the ranks." Kes replied. "Someone who's not afraid to tell the truth and stand up for what he believes in."

Poe found it increasingly difficult to keep up the charade. The guilt was boiling over until finally, he snapped and stood up. "Aaah, I can't take this anymore!" Finn and Rey shared knowing glances. "Zorii isn't an old friend of Rey's. She's an old friend of mine. I accidentally joined a spice smuggling ring."

"How do you accidentally join a spice smuggling ring?" Kes asked incredulously.

"Someone was looking to hire a pilot, so I jumped at the chance." Poe explained. "I didn't realize what they were smuggling til about a month in. By then, it was too late to back out."

"So, how did you get out?" Kes asked.

"I arranged for the New Republic to catch us in the act." Poe explained. "I told them I was tricked into joining, and they let me off in exchange for the crew."

"How have they not come after you for revenge yet?" Finn asked before he could stop himself.

Poe scoffed. "Well, has the First Order come after you for revenge for deserting them?"

"Not in a big way." Finn shrugged. "I was almost executed by Phasma, but then Holdo...well, you know."

"Sounds big to me." Rey commented.

"What about you, Rey? Unkar hasn't tracked you down since Takodana, right?" Finn asked.

"Nope. Haven't seen hide nor hair of him since." Rey shook her head. "I think Chewie took care of him, so no fear here. Poe?"

"Yes?"

"You're not at all afraid that the Kijimi gang won't be after you?" Rey asked.

"No. I'm hoping they were all on Kijimi when it was destroyed." Poe admitted.

"And if they weren't?" Finn prompted.

"Well, then I guess I just gave them a reason to hate me even more." Poe nodded solemnly. "But, I have an ex-stormtrooper, a Jedi, a droid, and a wookiee on my side; so bring it on!"

Rey just chuckled and shook her head. She turned to Kes. "I'm sorry for the deception earlier. I knew the truth would come out eventually. Poe just needed a push."

"It's all right." Kes replied, smiling. "I already knew the truth, anyway."

Poe did a double-take. "Wait, what?!"

"About six months after you left, Han saw you with the spice runners." Kes admitted. "He knew the only way out of it for you would be to report them to the New Republic. But, they only way they would catch them is if someone in the ring ratted them out, and well..." Kes shrugged and gestured to Poe, who was furious now.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew?!" Poe cried angrily.

"I wanted to give you a chance to tell me the truth." Kes replied calmly.

Poe exhaled sharply and nodded. "Okay, fine. So...?"

"Initially, I was mad, but I also blamed myself." Kes replied. "If I hadn't been so overprotective and strict, I wouldn't have driven you to be so desperate to leave this moon."

Poe was surprised. "No, I mean...I should have been more understanding to what you went through."

Kes shook his head. "The important thing is that you're okay. You got out of it, and you really turned your life around. Plus, running spice did come in handy in your search for Exegol after all, so, no harm done."

Poe sighed in relief, smiled, and nodded. "You're much more awesome than I thought you were."

Kes chuckled. "So are you, kid. So are you." They stood up and hugged.

They pulled apart and Poe's comlink beeped. "This could be work. I gotta take this. Excuse me." Poe left the room to respond.

Kes watched his son leave, then turned to Rey and Finn. "Would you guys like to see pictures of Poe when he was little?"

"Yes!" Rey exclaimed, intrigued.

Finn shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"All right." Kes grabbed the holopicture projector off the shelf and sat between Finn and Rey. He pulled up a photo of a woman holding a baby. "This is Poe after we brought him home from the Medbay."

"Awww. He's so cute!" Rey cooed.

"Yep." Kes nodded and flipped to the next photo, which was of a 6-month old Poe on his stomach, completely nude and looking at the camera. "This is Poe when he rolled over for the very first time." Next picture was of 1-year-old Poe waddling towards the camera. "His first steps," Next picture was of Poe completely nude except for a diaper on his head running through the orchard. Finn and Rey laughed.

Poe walked back into the living room and his eyes widened in horror when he saw the holoprojector of embarrassing pictures. He lunged for the projector and grabbed it from Kes's hands, startling Rey. "Okay! That's enough memories for today. I'll just keep this."

"Oh, come on, Poe! Please?" Rey gave Poe puppy-voorpak eyes.

Poe tried hard to resist those beautiful eyes. He groaned and threw his head back. "You couldn't Jedi Mind Trick me like everyone else?"

"Those only work on the _weak_ -minded." Rey explained. "You're as strong-minded as they come."

Poe sighed in resignation. "Fine." He lightly tossed the projector to Kes, who smiled with glee, and sat down, sulking as Kes showed his friends more pictures. After a few minutes of watching his father and friends laughing and talking and began to smile himself. This must be what peace feels like.

He could get used to this.


End file.
